


Bruises

by Donotquestionme



Category: The LEGO Movie (2014)
Genre: Gen, brother bonding, fanfic of a fanfic, some violence but not a crazy ton
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:15:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1744280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Donotquestionme/pseuds/Donotquestionme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fanfic of shadowfire125's fanfic "Fall Awake" which, if you aren’t reading their coppernauts series, you really should because it’s fantastic.</p><p>It’s a prequel to the coppernauts series, taking place a number of years before when GCBC were still in school. It explores an event that was mentioned within FA itself.</p><p>Possible triggers : Swearing, blood, knives</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bruises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadowfire125](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowfire125/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fall Awake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1678940) by [shadowfire125](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowfire125/pseuds/shadowfire125). 



It happened while they were walking home from school.

Malcom Copp was chatting with his other half quietly. They couldn't talk very effectively during the school day for fear of looking even more...unusual than they already did. They normally took the path around the back of the school so they could speak more openly without drawing attention to themselves, and also to avoid confrontation with one of their many tormentors.

"That's easy for you to say." Mal muttered to his counterpart, regarding the aforementioned's cheery comment about an essay they had to write for their English class. "You've always been better with--" he cut off abruptly as he spotted something up ahead. He clenched his hand in a tight fist and grit his teeth.

 _What is it?_ Liam asked, confused by Mal's sudden change in mood.

"Riley." Mal spat. He glanced around quickly, spotting several other figures  approaching him on all sides.  It was an ambush. "And his _gang."_ he added with a sneer.

Riley was a ginger haired upperclassman who was particularly fond of harassing the Copp "brothers". Both due to his general dislike for police officers (and subsequently, their children), and that they were admittedly easy targets. His reputation as a "bad boy" and his family's rumored involvement in organized crime  had gained him the respect of a  number of other, thuggish classmates who followed at his heels like a pack of Rottweilers.

Malcolm could feel Liam's part of their mind start to fill with worry.

 _Can we make a break for it?_ He asked. _Maybe we could find a teacher._

"I'm _not_ running from him." Mal growled.

Liam let out a small, concerned whimper. _Mal..._ He urged. _Don't do anything stupid. If we get in another fight on school grounds, we could be expelled!_

Mal huffed angrily, but reluctantly agreed.

 _Just try to ignore him._ Liam said.

Mal kept his eyes to the ground and quickened his pace, pretending he hadn't noticed the older boy.

"Hey, freak!" came a call from Riley. Mal ignored him, trying to walk past him.

A hand grabbed his shoulder forcefully. Riley yanked Mal around to face him.

"Look at me when I talk to you!" He snapped. "Don't you know to pay attention to your betters when they speak?"

"I'll keep that in mind if I see one." Mal retorted, not missing a beat.

Riley let out a single sharp chuckle. "Real funny." he said, and pushed Mal back against one of his gang members, who grabbed his backpack, pulling it off of him. The group of boys had formed a tight circle around them, blocking off any chance of escape.

"Hey!" Mal cried, trying to get his bag back, but the goon had already tossed the bag over to his leader.

"Aww!" Riley cooed mockingly as he pulled a small, tin lunchbox out of the bag. "How _cute._ It's even got little happy stickers on it!" his smile turned vicious. "Oh but _let me guess._ " he sneered. " _You_ didn't put them there, right? It was that other guy, Mr. Goodie Two-Shoes, right?"

"His name's Liam!" Mal barked, lunching for the box, but Riley pushed him back, knocking him to the ground. There was a collective chuckle from the gang. 

"Oh, you want this back?" Riley asked, then threw the box to the ground. He then stomped down on it , crumpling it in on itself.

"NO!" Mal cried. "You'll pay for that!"

"You're so pathetic!" Riley laughed. "You think you can look tough now? After you spend half the day pretending to be a different person?" He put on a overly sweet smile " _Oh no, I'm not Mal now just wee Liam. I hope we can just be bestest friends!_ " He said, imitating Liam's sing-song voice mockingly.

Mal got to his feet. "It's not pretending!" he shouted.

"Then you really are just a psycho, then!" Riley spat. "They should lock people like you up."

"That's rich coming from a two bit crook like you!" Mal retorted.  "You'll be the one behind bars someday, you wanna know why?"

 _Mal don't, please!_ Liam begged. _He's twice our size and has a gang with him!_

Mal didn't listen "Because you're too _stupid_ to ever get away with anything! You play like you're going to be some big shot but you don't have the brains for it. You wouldn't even make it as a two bit con man. The hardest part about putting you away will be pulling your head out of your ass long enough to read you your righ--"

***THWACK***

Riley cut Mal off with a swift backhand across the face, sending the smaller boy reeling. The force of the blow sent his sunglasses flying off of his face. Just knocking his glasses off wasn't enough to trigger a switch, but it was, along with the slap, far enough to severely disorient him. He fell to his hands and knees, scrambling to find the glasses, while also recovering from the hit.

He spotted his glasses and reached for them, but Riley put his foot down on them.

"And who's gonna take me out, huh?" he laughed coldly. " _You?_ You really think they take psychos in the force? I mean, can you even tell who you are if you don't have your precious glasses?"

He ground his heel into the sunglasses, shattering them. "Guess you better learn." All the humor was gone from his face and voice.

Mal looked up at the older boy, fuming. His eyes were alight with rage.

"Or maybe it'd be your _pig_ parents who bring me in. After all these years living in the country, getting old and fat."

He leaned down, inches from Malcolm's face and whispered. "You know what they do to pigs when they get _old and fat?"_

In a blur of motion Mal's fist collided with the side of Riley's face with a loud "CRACK".

Riley cried out and clutched at his face, giving Malcolm the opportunity to get to his feet.

"You little shit!" Riley spat. "Look what you did to my face!"

"Relax. " Mal said. "It's not like I could make you any uglier than you already were."

This time Mal was expecting the punch and dodged it easily, returning with a quick jab to the ribs. He pulled back for another punch, but one of Riley's goons grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He made to break free, but another one grabbed his other arm. He struggled desperately but it was no use.

Riley shook his head slowly. "You have no idea what you just did."

Even if Mal had had a snappy comeback, he couldn't have delivered it. Riley punched him hard in the gut, almost making him lose his lunch. Mal gasped for air, but Riley didn't give him a break. The next punch was to the face. Mal herd a "crunch" that he figured was his nose breaking. Riley proceeded to beat him senseless, pummeling his face, chest and stomach for nearly half a minute.

"Drop him." He said at last. The boys holding Malcolm obeyed, letting him flop to the ground.

Mal was shaking uncontrollably. He'd never been in so much pain. He couldn't even see straight. He spat blood onto the ground, gasping for breath. Somehow, he managed to at least get onto his hands and knees. The world felt like it was spinning. He looked up at Riley, towering over him.

Riley pulled out a knife from his back pocket and flipped it open. "You fucked up, _piglet._ Now I'm going to slice you up and fry you into bacon."

Malcolm was paralyzed with fear.

This was it. He was going to die. And he'd dragged Liam down with him. They were both going to die right here in this spot because of his stupidity. Liam had warned him. He'd begged him to stop but he hadn't listened.

And now they were going to _die._

Riley watched as the shivering boy at his feet fumbled with his jacket pocket, pulling out a pair of round spectacles and slipping them on.

Suddenly he wasn't shaking at all.

The boy stood up, face devoid of emotion, but eyes intense.

Riley smirked. "Oh. Now it's this guy, right? Now you'll be all sweet and nice and say you're just _so sorry_." He extended the knife toward the victim's face threateningly. "Well that's not going to cut it this time!" He glanced at his crew "Give me some room boys, I--"

In the slip second that Riley looked away, Liam had ducked around to the other side of the arm holding the knife.  In one fluid motion, he grabbed Riley's wrist, twisting it so he'd drop the knife, and pulling to hyperextend his arm. Then, with his other hand applied a quick, precise, and devastating amount of force to the elbow joint.

It took Riley a half second to even realize his arm was just broken. Before he could even scream, Liam, delivered a another quick blow to his kidney.

The change had taken the older boy completely by surprise. He'd fought Malcolm before. He was more about show. A lot of one liners and insults coupled with showy punches to the face or chest. It was to make a statement and cause some pain, not really to do damage. Malcolm fought like an action movie star.

Liam fought like the son of two cops in a life or death situation.

He was quick and methodical, he knew every weak point and how to exploit it.

Palm to the chin to expose the neck. Punch to the windpipe to inhibit breathing.  Bring their skull down. Bash the nose in with the knee. Elbow into the ribs. Knee to the groin to send him to the ground.

Riley's gang had barely had time to process what was happening before their leader was on the ground. One of them grabbed Liam from behind, but Liam used their momentum to flip the assailant over his shoulder. A swift kick to the head knocked him unconscious. The rest of the gang either froze with fear or fled.

Liam turned back to Riley, who was floundering on the ground. He leaned down and grabbed him by the shirt, pulling his face up to be inches from his own.

"If you _ever_ touch him again..." Liam said, his voice dripping with rage. "If you ever so much as _look at him wrong_ again. At _either of us._  I swear it will be the last thing. _You. Ever. Do_."

Then suddenly his face went slack with shock. He let out a small choking sound, and looked down to his stomach.

Riley's knife was jabbed into his gut.

Liam stood in a daze. The knife had been on the ground. He...he hadn't kicked it away. When he was fending off the other boy he wasn't looking at Riley. He..he must have...have...

Liam felt blood begin to soak his shirt.

He remembered falling to the ground.

Then nothing more.

\--------

Malcolm woke up in a hospital bed. His whole body ached.

Every breath sent a dull ache through his ribs and stomach and just the fluorescent lighting of the room was enough to send sharp pangs of pain through his head.

He groaned softly.

"Son?" he heard a voice say.

Mal turned his head slightly to see his parents sitting in chairs next to him. They hurriedly stood up and rushed to his side.

"Oh thank goodness you're awake. Darlin' are you alright? We were so worried." his mother said. Her eyes were red. She'd been crying.

"Ma? Da?" Mal said hoarsely.  "I..." He coughed to try to clear his throat. The coppery taste of blood still lingered in his mouth.

His father offered him some water and he took a sip.

Mal's face contorted with a mix of pain and shame.  "Sorry, Ma, Da...you told...told me not to get in any more fights..." he rasped.

"Son, what happened?" His father asked him, sounding concerned.

"Riley jumped me. After school. He busted my glasses..."  Mal said. With a groan he added "How bad is it?"

"Docs say you've got a broken nose an'...an' a bruised rib or two." His mother said shakily, trying to maintain her composure. "And a...a few stitches from the knife."

"Knife?" Mal asked, surprised. That's right, there had been a knife. He couldn't remember ever being cut though. Come to think of it, he had no memory of the end of the fight at all, or how he had gotten to the hospital...

He quickly tried to play it off. "I mean, you could barely call  it that. More of a letter opener, really." he tried for a reassuring smile, but wasn't sure it was too convincing. Maybe he should let Liam take over? He was always so much better at this kind of thing.

He prodded silently at his other half, but there was no response, only the feeling of reluctance to come out and the desire to be left alone.

Mal couldn't blame him. Liam must have been furious with him. If he'd listened to Liam in the first place, they wouldn't be in the hospital at all and their parents wouldn't need reassurance.

"How'd you know to come find me?" Mal asked.

"One of Riley's mates had the good sense to call the police, thank God." Pa said. "They'd all run off by the time we arrived. Just you, Riley and the Perkins boy there by the time the ambulances showed up."

Mal blinked, confused. Riley had stayed? Why? Certainly not to make sure he was ok. It didn't make any sense. He shook his head slightly.

"W...Where are they now?" he asked.

"Riley's in the room over." Ma answered. "Other one's been discharged already. Soon as he woke up and they got him patched up."

Mal noticed a dark sort of worry to his parents' voices, like an anticipation of something terrible. They were smiling but there was something under the surface. Something bad had happened.

Suddenly the gap in his memory became much more worrying.

"Why...why is Riley in the hospital?" He asked, voice only a whisper.

His parents exchanged a look between them, then turned to him with those weak, understanding smiles.

"You...did a bit of a number on him, son." Ma said.

Mal's throat suddenly felt very dry.

This was all wrong. Riley shouldn't _be_ in the hospital. He'd given him a black eye at the most.  Mal wracked his brain for answers.

What had happened? Why couldn't he remember the ambulance ride or the end of the fight? How could he not remember being cut or stabbed enough to warrant stitches? He _must_ remember something. All he could remember was being in so much pain, and being so afraid. Knowing he was going to die. That was it...

But no...no there was something else. There was an all consuming, suffocating rage.  A compulsion to reach into his jacket pocket.

He remembered fumbling with Liam's glasses.

Rage that wasn't his.

Mal felt his blood run cold.

"I need to be alone!" he cried. The suddenness of it made his parents jump.

"I-I'm tired." he said quickly, lowering his voice. "I'm tired and I need- I want to be alone."

When they hesitated, he added "P-please."

Ma and Pa exchanged another look, but agreed.  "We'll be right outside the door." Pa said.

"Call if you need anything." said Ma.

Mal nodded.

The door shut behind them with a soft "click".  Mal closed his eyes and focused on something he and Liam had been practicing.

_Inhale_

_Exhale_

_Inhale_

_He blinked his eyes open slowly to see the serene meadow that was their mindspace. He stood, as always atop a small hill with a young tree on it. He ran his fingers over the carvings of his and Liam's names in the bark before scanning the calm scene for his counterpart. He spotted Liam in the middle of the field below him._

_Beside Liam was a small pile of stone bricks. A small ring of bricks surrounded him. Every thirty seconds or so another brick would materialize and fall onto the pile. He seemed to be stacking the bricks at roughly the same speed at which they were appearing._

_"What're you doing?" said Mal as he approached._

_Liam did not look up at him, instead keeping his eyes focused on his work. "Building a wall." he said sadly._

_"And why would you be doing somethin' like that?" Mal asked._

_"To keep me in." Liam replied, still not looking up. "So that nobody's got to...to deal with me anymore."_

_Mal's eyebrows knit together. "What happened?" he asked softly._

_Liam stopped stacking. He bit his lip and curled into himself a bit. He took a shaky breath, then continued building._

_"I thought Riley was going to kill you." he swallowed. "Kill us, I mean. You were in no shape t' fight him off so I...I switched in an' I...I..." his hands were shaking too badly to keep stacking. He pulled his head in to his knees. "I dunno what came over me I just..." he choked back a sob. "I'm so sorry."_

_"Sorry?" Mal said, astounded. "_ You're _sorry? If It wasn't for me we never even would have been in that situation in the first place! If I'd just kept my mouth shut! If I'd just listened to you! I should've never gotten us into that mess. Or at least had the decency to get us out of it."_

_Liam said nothing._

_Mal kicked the wall, sending bricks tumbling across the grass._

_Liam looked up at him at last, tears in his eyes and a small, sad smile on his lips._

_"You did a stupid thing, because that's what kids do. You talked a big game and got yourself in trouble but, Mal, I put two kids_ in the hospital _.  You gave Riley a black eye." he shrugged sadly. "I gave him a_ concussion."

_"It...it was self defense. You had no choi--"Mal began, but Liam cut him off._

_"I was awake a bit before, you know. In and out, I doubt you'd remember it at all. I heard what the nurses said, 'bout Riley, I mean." Liam took a shuddering breath. "Two broken ribs. Broken arm. Concussion. Nose's ...shattered probably never look the same. Said...s-said it looked like he'd ...he'd b-been hit b-by a_ car." 

 _It took few moments of deep breathing for him to be able to speak again.  "I was just so_ angry _. Even now when I think about him hurting you like that I._.." _he bit his lip and took another deep breath._

 _"People will be afraid of me now._ I'm _afraid of me, Mal."_

_Malcolm's eyebrows furrowed with determination. He knelt down and took his brother's hands in his._

_"Nobody's going t' be afraid of you, ya hear me? I'll take the fall for this. I'm always getting into fights, there's no reason for anyone to think this was you." He gave Liam a small smile. "You're the good Copp."_

_Liam just looked at him sadly._

_"I don't feel 'good', Mal." he said._

_Without another word, Mal pulled Liam into a close embrace._

_Malcolm swore it to himself: No matter what it took, he would never let it come to this again. No matter what he had to do, he would never ever let there be a need for that dark part of his beloved partner that terrified him so to show its face again. He didn't care how 'bad' he had to be, as long as Liam could be his 'good'. He'd protect Liam and his sunny outlook, whatever the cost._

_He swore it on his life._


End file.
